RENT: An Austin & Ally Story
by countingeverysecondoftheday
Summary: Austin is an aspiring musician who's not had an easy life, and shares a small apartment in Miami with roommate and good friend Dez. They struggle to make ends meet as they try and make something of their lives. Ally is a dancer, who's not had such a good life herself. When she meets Austin, will the pair start a romance and learn to love life? RENT storyline, A&A characters.
1. Chapter 1

**Hellooooo everybody! Welcome to my new story!**

 **So I absolutely LOVE the musical Rent, and I absolutely LOVE the TV show Austin & Ally, so why not combine the two? And it also just so happened that the characters seemed to match up pretty well, mostly!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own RENT: The Musical (or movie), Austin & Ally or anything you recognise from the show in any way, shape or form, nor do I own any recognisable brands, songs or lyrics within them.**

 **So, now that that's done, I hope you guys enjoy the first chapter!**

. . . . .

 _ **Chapter 1**_

Christmas Eve in Miami, Florida. It's cold… _very_ cold. A very thin layer of snow dusts the streets, adding to what should be a 'Winter Wonderland' atmosphere at this time of year. But this is downtown Miami… the people here lead a very bohemian lifestyle, and the 'Christmas Spirit' we all know and love doesn't really exist in the same way in these parts.

Christmas decorations are sparse – far too expensive for the inhabitants of this area. No sign of any twinkly fairy lights; the electricity bill would be too much. No colourful tinsel in sight, as that is seen as 'tacky' and 'lame'. Also too expensive to buy.

In one of the many small apartments that fill this area, we find the two inhabitants, each of them focused on their individual tasks.

One of these two men is 23 year-old Austin, a tall blonde - the girls in school threw themselves at him. Austin is an aspiring musician, who can often be found alone with his guitar strumming away. He really wants to just write one great song, just so he can feel like he's accomplished something in his life. You see, like many residents of this area, Austin hasn't had the best life up until this point.

He has been struggling to hold down a job, making money tighter than ever. His life got even worse a couple of months ago, when his girlfriend Cassidy left him a note saying "We've got AIDs"… she was found a couple of days later… dead… having slit her own wrists. So now Austin was alone, poor and fighting against AIDs.

The only person Austin really had to rely on was his roommate, and good friend, Dez. A kind, but often crazy, redhead with an… _interesting_ fashion sense, Dez is a film-maker who could on this night be found starting work on his latest documentary. Dez is the same age as Austin, and they have been friends since High School. Dez was happy in his relationship with a street performer, Kira… until Kira dumped him to be with another woman, a fairly successful lawyer named Trish. Let's just say Trish and Dez didn't exactly have the best friendship, and the whole Kira fiasco only made things more awkward between them.

On this Christmas Eve night Dez was filming the apartment, and turned to Austin, who was trying to tune his old, battered guitar. "Urgh, it's not tuning!" Austin grunts in annoyance at the old instrument.

"Yeah, I can tell." Dez says, making a face at the unpleasant sound the strings are making.

Austin looks up and gives Dez an annoyed face. "Shut up, Dez." He says, although it's really only half-serious. The pair were well-accustomed to the playful jokes between them. "Oh, by the way, Elliot texted me earlier, he should be here in a bit to hang out." Dez nods in response before picking his camera up.

"So, Austin, why don't you tell the folks at home what you're up to?" Dez said, walking towards the table Austin was perched on, camera recording in his hand.

"Oh, hey everybody, I'm Austin Moon." Austin says with a small smile and a nod into the camera lens. "And I'm just trying to-'' But Austin is cut off by the phone ringing.

Dez stops recording and goes to answer the phone. "Hello?" He says as he picks up the phone.

"Hey Dezzy-kins, it's Mom!" Dez's mom, Donna, replies down the phone, and Dez grimaces at the horrific nickname his mother has called him since he was a baby, despite his repeated requests for her to stop.

Dez's family moved to New York when he went off to college, and he can't afford to fly out to see them, but he still tries to contact them as often as he can. He's a little sad that he's not really very close to his family, but he's gotten used to it over all the years he's been on his own. At least here he had Austin.

"Hey, Mom. You okay?" Dez replies, as Austin starts to try and tune his guitar again.

"Yes, honey, we just wanted to call to say we love you very much and hope you have a good Christmas." His mother replied enthusiastically.

"Thanks, love you too. Is the whole family there?" He asks, a little enviously.

"Yeah, grandma and grandpa send their love sweetheart."

"Well that's nice." Dez says in a bitter tone, but his mom doesn't pick up on that.

"Oh and honey, we heard about Kira."

Dez groaned at this and threw his head back. He was kind of struggling to get over her; I mean it's never nice to hear that your girlfriend is dumping you because she's turned lesbian.

"Oh don't worry about it honey, who cares? There are plenty more fish in the sea, dear." Donna comforted him.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Thanks Mom." Dez replied.

"By the way what's that awful racket in the background?" Donna questions, faintly hearing the straining notes coming from the guitar being tuned.

"Hmm? Oh, that's just Austin trying to tune his piece-of-junk guitar." Dez replied, briefly turning to face Austin and giving him a wink.

"Oh, well tell him I say hi, dear!" Donna said happily. Dez's mom and dad had always been like a second set of parents for Austin, and vice versa, since they'd been so close since they were in Middle School.

"I will, Mom. Love you, have a good Christmas."

"You too honey, speak soon!" Donna says before hanging up the phone, as Dez does the same.

"Okay, let's try this again." Dez says, picking his camera back up and once again beginning to record. "So, Austin, why don't you tell the folks at home what you're up to?" Dez said, walking back over to Austin on the table.

"Oh, hey everybody, I'm Austin Moon." Austin says, repeating his actions from earlier. "And right now I'm writing a so-'' But once again the phone ringing cuts him off. "Are you kidding me?" Austin says, annoyed and looking up at the ceiling.

Dez sighed, put his camera back down and once again walked over to the phone. "Hello?" He says, a little more forcefully and angrily this time.

"Oh, good evening to you too Dez." Comes the reply in a familiar voice.

"Oh hey Jace." Dez grumbles, before putting the phone on speaker. "Austin, it's Jace." He calls over.

"Oh shit!" Austin mutters beneath his breath, before putting his guitar down and walking over to stand by Dez so they can both hear the phone. "'Sup Jace."

"Good evening boys! Merry Christmas!" Jace says in an over-enthusiastic voice.

"Uh-huh." The two men deadpan in response, not exactly happy to have to be speaking to the one on the other end of the phone.

You see, Jace used to also be Austin and Dez's roommate, along with Kira until she broke up with Dez, however Jace then became a wealthy, affluent, successful landlord. To be more specific, Austin and Dez's landlord. Oh, the irony.

"Oh, come on guys, cheer up! It's Christmas for God's sake!" Jace replies.

"Whatever." Austin grumbles as their response. "Just what do you want now, Jace?"

"Just to let you guys know that I'm on my way over to your apartment now."

"Great!" Dez replied, trying to be nice and polite, whist at the same time Austin harshly said "Why?"

"Because, guys, you need to pay me the rent." Jace answers Austin's question.

"Rent? What rent?" Dez asks, confused.

"The rent for the last year, you know, the one that I let slide up until now?" Jace replies, his tone becoming more serious and slightly threatening at the end.

"What!? You said we didn't have to pay it!" Austin exclaims.

"Yeah, you did, when you lived with us, remember?" Dez adds, starting to panic as he and Austin both know they have nowhere near enough money to pay a year's rent.

"Yeah man what's happened to you?" Austin asks. "Ever since you moved out, you became a complete dick dude!"

Jace chuckled before replying. "Listen, boys, I don't think you realise how nice it was of me to let the rent slide this long. I've done everything I can to help you guys."

"Bullshit." Austin quickly mutters.

"But now the rent is due. So, get it together by the time I get there. Or else, I will have no choice but to evict you. And nobody wants that, do they?" Jace asked, in a way that was both kind and threatening at the same time.

"Jace, you know we-'' Dez starts but is cut off.

"Uh-uh-uh, guys, that's the final line on the matter. Rent. Needed. Now." Austin and Dez turn to each other, both feeling pissed off and a little anxious. "Oh, Dez, by the way, heard about Kira – ha!" Jace says coldly. "I heard she dumped you for someone else."

"Yes, that's true." Dez says through gritted teeth, as Austin puts a hand on his shoulder for sympathy.

"Ha, what's his name?" Jace continues.

There is a short pause before Dez answers. "Trish."

Hysterical laughter can be heard from the other end of the phone as Jace lost it and laughed at the situation, which just made Austin and Dez even madder at him and even more determined that they weren't going to pay Jace's precious rent, because he didn't deserve to receive it.

"Oh just piss off, man! And don't bother coming over here!" Austin says coldly, before hanging up as Jace's laughter continued to come through the receiver. "Man I can't believe him sometimes!"

"Ugh, I know, and to think he actually used to be cool." Dez replied, playing around with his camera lens as Austin walks back over to the table and his guitar.

. . . . .

 **So that's it, the first chapter! I know it's kind of short, but really it's just more of a taster chapter so I can gauge a response… if you want this to be continued, the only way that will happen is if you leave a review telling me so!**

 **So yeah let me know what you think, whether you loved it or hated it!**

 **Catch you later! :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey hey hey everybody! Welcome back to this story!**

 **I'm glad people seemed to enjoy the first chapter, so here is a second one for ya! I will post chapters of this story every Friday, to go along with my other story which is updated every Monday, so stay tuned!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own RENT: The Musical (or movie), Austin & Ally or anything you recognise from the show in any way, shape or form, nor do I own any recognisable brands, songs or lyrics within them.**

 **I hope you guys enjoy chapter two!**

. . . . .

 _ **Chapter 2**_

Meanwhile, out in the streets, Austin and Dez's friend Elliot was walking towards their apartment block to spend the evening with them.

Elliot had known the pair since they moved into the area, having already been there when they arrived. Elliot was a professor and computer genius, and as he was slightly older than Dez and Austin had always been somewhat of an older-brother character towards them.

Elliot had blue eyes and thick brown hair, which was always styled up (if he could afford the hair gel). He also had a warm, deep smile and had a very caring, friendly attitude which made him widely well-liked by those he met.

He was about two blocks away from the apartment building and was searching around in his pockets for the spare key to the boys' apartment he had, when two men dressed in black emerged from an alley on his left and began to walk towards him.

Elliot gulped, immediately realising the situation he was now caught in, as he could make out baseball bats held in the unknown men's hands.

He tried to retain a confident appearance and try and walk past the men in the hopes that they would do the same and leave him alone, but unfortunately that is not what happened.

As Elliot was walking past the first, and smaller, of the two men, he felt an icy cold hand on his shoulder, before he was violently span around to face them, punched in the face once and then thrown to the frozen, solid concrete pavement.

What followed for the next couple of minutes was a frenzy of kicks and baseball bat swings, as the two darkly dressed men beat Elliot up for all he was worth. Thankfully, before any real major damage could be done to Elliot, the three heard someone else approaching and they all knew that time was up. The two thugs quickly grabbed Elliot's wallet, which was empty anyway, from his tattered jeans pocket before running off down the street, almost immediately disappearing into the mysterious shadows of the dark night.

Elliot gathered his composure and stood up, before limping towards Austin and Dez's apartment. You see, this kind of thing was not exactly an uncommon occurrence for Elliot. He was pretty widely known to the community as a gay man, having always been very open about his sexuality and generally not caring what other people thought. Although this was in many ways a good thing, it could however also attract the attention of those who did not agree with the entire concept of being homosexual, such as the two men he had just encountered, and they would sometimes seek him out and… _demonstrate_ their disapproval of him being gay.

But Elliot didn't let that stop him from being true to himself and embracing who he really was.

He continued staggering towards his destination, but when he was no more than a block away, the sound of street drums filled his ears. Elliot followed the sound around the corner, to find a man, seemingly of a similar age to him, sitting on the sidewalk drumming on some upturned bins.

The man was wearing a black beanie which covered most of his brown hair, apart from a sweeping fringe across his forehead. He had deep brown eyes and was completely lost in his world of music he was creating.

Elliot crossed the narrow street and began to walk along the sidewalk directly opposite to where the drummer was, however when he was pretty much exactly level with the man immersed in his music, Elliot's injuries suddenly overcame him and he tripped and fell to the hard ground for a second time within ten minutes. He let out a loud groan as his body made contact with the floor, which caught the attention of the man behind the bins.

"You okay, honey?" Elliot heard him call across the road, before getting up from behind the bins and crossing the street to kneel next to him and help him up.

"Uh, yeah, thanks. Just in a bit of pain… I was mugged a few minutes ago." Elliot explained bitterly as he brushed himself down, wincing slightly when his hand went over his stomach, which was almost certainly a deep purple colour from bruising.

"Oh no, you poor thing!" The man said, glancing over Elliot to check for any noticeable injuries. "Did they get any money?"

Elliot laughed, again bitterly. "Ha, they wish. I had no money to lose, just a completely empty wallet. Joke's on them I guess."

The man smiled warmly at this. "I'm Dallas, by the way." He said in a tone to match his smile.

"Elliot." He replied. The two stared into each other's eyes for a few seconds, starting to get lost in them as they both felt a powerful connection between them.

Eventually, Dallas snapped out of it as he remembered that Elliot was injured, and once again looked over him, noticing a tear in his jeans and a large scratch on his knee. "Well, come with me, let's get you a band-aid for your knee." He said as he offered Elliot his arm and they began to walk down the street again. "I needed to go home to get changed anyway, I have a 'Life Support' group meeting at nine-thirty."

Elliot looked over at Dallas in confusion. "You go to 'Life Support'?" He inquired.

"Yep, that's right. This man has AIDs." Dallas said, pointing to himself, causing Elliot to smile and chuckle lightly.

"Well, so do I. I think we'll get along just fine." Elliot responded and the two laughed. "But I just need to call my friends quickly, they're waiting for me, I'm meant to meet them at their apartment soon." He said, pulling out his phone from his back pocket, which the thugs had surprisingly managed to miss.

And so the two men continued to walk, arm in arm, down the street towards Dallas' apartment.

. . . . .

At a well-loved community performance space, three blocks away, a lawyer named Trish was busy trying to set up equipment for her girlfriend Kira's performance. Kira was performing as part of a campaign by locals against the wealthy, greedy and cruel landlords, such as Jace, who were in the process of getting rid of all these spaces to make room for more houses and therefore make more money. Needless to say, Jace and his fellow landlords were _not_ the most popular amongst the locals.

Kira, on the other hand, was loved by pretty much everyone who went to see her performances, feeling that she really represented the spirit of the area and the thoughts and feelings of all those who lived there, even though her performance style was very often more than a little… abstract. Still, she had a good voice and she certainly knew how to use it well to get her point across.

As a lawyer, however, microphones and speakers were not Trish's area of expertise, and she was really struggling to get everything done correctly. As Kira's boyfriend at the time, Dez had always done this and, unlike Trish, he actually knew how everything worked. However, when he was dumped he of course stopped this and the job instead fell to Trish… who was hopeless.

She was very short in stature, with thick black curly hair which ran almost all the way down her back, and was usually tied back in a ponytail. Her wardrobe consisted mainly of suits, because of her job, but during the cold winters she would often pair this with a scarf.

She was currently on the phone to Kira, who was getting increasingly annoyed at her girlfriend's inability to do a job that she had absolutely no knowledge in… her logic there would never be completely clear to anyone.

"Yes, Kira, I did do everything you told me, but it still doesn't work!" Trish said loudly, getting equally frustrated with Kira for expecting her to be able to do this easily.

"Well then how come Dez could always do it so easily?" Kira replied in a sassy tone.

Trish was instantly infuriated. Even hearing Dez's name made her mad, due to the awkwardness and levels of hostility between them created after Kira dumped him.

"I don't _know_ , Kira, why don't you ask _him_?" Trish responded in a clipped tone.

"Ooh, great idea pookie!" Kira responded in a cheery tone.

"What?" Trish questioned.

"I can call Dez and ask him to come and help you set up!" Kira continued happily… she didn't fully understand the whole situation between her girlfriend and ex – but then again, Kira didn't fully understand most things, really.

"No, Kira, no!" Trish shouted back in a panic. The last thing she wanted on Christmas Eve was to have to spend some of it with the man she disliked most in the whole of Miami, setting up equipment for Kira's stupid performance.

Kira didn't hear, though, as she was already replying with: "Great, I'll ask him now, see you later Trish babes! Mwah!" Before hanging up the phone.

Trish moved her own phone away from her ear and glared viciously at it, before shoving it into her suit pocket and continuing to desperately try and figure out how everything worked, just so that she wouldn't look like a complete idiot when Dez turned up.

"How the hell do you do this?" She mumbled to herself as she looked, puzzled, over the mess of wires and microphones and amps in front of her.

. . . . .

 **That's the end of chapter two!**

 **I know these chapters are shorter than they normally are in my stories, I guess that's just the way the story is working itself out.**

 **Ally will be introduced in the next chapter! Leave a review if you're excited!**

 **Remember to follow, favourite and review this story and check out my others whilst you're at it!**

 **Catch you later! :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey everybody! Welcome back to this story!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own RENT: The Musical (or movie), Austin & Ally or anything you recognise from the show in any way, shape or form, nor do I own any recognisable brands, songs or lyrics within them.**

 **I hope you guys like this chapter… let me know what you think in a review!**

. . . . .

 _ **Chapter 3**_

Back in Austin and Dez's apartment, the men were once again trying to film for Dez's documentary about life in downtown Miami. They had gotten further than they had in their previous attempts, but were once again interrupted by the phone ringing.

With a groan Dez turned off his camera and threw it onto the couch, before walking over and picking up the phone. "Hello?" He said slightly annoyed.

"Hey Dezzy!" Came an all-too-familiar voice through the phone. At the sound of this, Dez's eyes widened and he took the call into his bedroom.

"Kira?" He said quietly into the phone. He was still not completely over her and talking to her alone was awkward enough, let alone trying to do it in front of Austin.

"Of course silly!" Kira replied, giggling. "So you're coming to see my performance tonight, right?"

"Uh, yeah, if I can manage to persuade Austin to leave the apartment." Dez replied, a little grudgingly.

"Great!" Kira said in a screech voice. "Can't wait to see you there!"

"Sure, I guess. Was that all?" Dez says, a little confused as to the point of Kira's call.

"Well, actually, no, Dezzy, I need you to do something for me." Kira says in a childish whiny voice.

"What is it, Kira?" Dez asks, sighing and leaning against his wardrobe.

She giggled again. Dez knew he should find the noise annoying, sickening, but he couldn't help but find it adorable… he was really struggling to move on from her. "It's nothing big. So Trishykins is kind of struggling to set up my equipment properly for tonight, so I was wondering if… maybe you could be my hero and go help her out?"

Kira really knew how to bend Dez and play with his mind to get him to do what she wanted. Dez really didn't like Trish, and could barely stand the idea of having to be _alone_ with her for any amount of time… however, it could let him show off to Kira and prove himself better than Trish – and he loved when Kira called him his hero. Could he really say no?

"Okay, I'll do it Kira. Tell Trish I'm on my way." He replied, trying to sound completely indifferent about the situation.

"Thanks Dezzy, you're the best. See you tonight!" Kira said loudly, before hanging up without giving Dez the chance to say another word.

Dez walked back out into the living room and placed the phone back in its cradle on the table. "Who was that?" Austin asked, not looking up from his guitar.

"Uhh…" Dez hesitated.

"It was Kira wasn't it?" Austin replied, still not looking up. He knew all too well when Dez had been speaking to her.

"Yeah, I need to go help Trish set up Kira's equipment for her performance tonight." Dez said as he grabbed his coat and scarf and started to walk over to the door.

"Pffff, you're such a sucker for her, dude." Austin scoffed as he finally finished tuning his guitar and gave a small fist pump in celebration.

"I know…" Dez admitted quietly. "Anyway, you are coming to her performance, right?"

"I don't know, man." Austin said, gently placing his guitar on the floor next to him. "You know I haven't felt like going out recently."

"I know, Austin, I know. But just think about it, okay? We can go out to see Kira, then we're all going to the Life Café afterwards. It's gonna be like a big party!" Dez said enthusiastically. "It is Christmas Eve after all."

"We'll see, Dez. We'll see." Austin said, picking his guitar back up.

"Okay, well I'll be back after I help Trish. Remember to take your AZT." Dez said before walking out the door.

When he was gone Austin sighed at the silence. He knew he really did need to get out more and make new friends, but he just couldn't find it in himself to do it. He'd barely left the apartment since Cassidy committed suicide. Dez had been trying to help him as much as possible, but there was really only so much he could do.

Just then, the power went out and the apartment was thrown into darkness, the only light coming from a few battery-operated lamps scattered throughout the room. Austin looked down at the floor and chuckled bitterly. This was so typical, but getting so frequent that Dez and him were just getting used to it. It had to happen on Christmas Eve, though, on the coldest night Miami had seen in a while.

Austin began to strum his guitar once again. He absolutely adored music, he always had since he was a little boy. He knew it was unlikely to ever make a career out of it, but he'd never given up – he loved the music way too much to ever do that.

Although he loved playing instruments, Austin had never really been very good at writing songs. His main goal was actually to just write one good song before he died. ' _One song… One good song'_ He thought to himself, before a wave of inspiration suddenly hit him and he began to strum out a tune on his guitar.

 _One song  
Glory  
One song  
Before I go  
Glory  
One song to leave behind  
Find one song  
One last refrain  
Glory  
From the pretty boy front man  
Who wasted opportunity  
One song  
He had the world at his feet  
Glory  
In the eyes of a young girl  
A young girl  
Find glory  
Beyond the cheap coloured lights  
One song  
Before the sun sets  
Glory - on another empty life  
Time flies - time dies  
Glory - One blaze of glory  
One blaze of glory - glory  
Find  
Glory  
In a song that rings true  
Truth like a blazing fire  
An eternal flame  
Find  
One song  
A song about love  
Glory  
From the soul of a young man  
A young man  
Find  
The one song  
Before the virus takes hold  
Glory  
Like a sunset  
One song  
To redeem this empty life  
Time flies  
And then - no need to endure anymore  
Time dies_

 ** _(One Song Glory from RENT)_**

Just as Austin finished writing his song, there was a sharp knocking at the door. Thinking it was Dez having something, like usual, Austin put down his guitar before walking over. He swung open the door saying "What'd you forget?"

But when the door opened it did not reveal Dez; instead there stood a very pretty, slightly short girl looking up at Austin with a candle in her hand. "Got a light?" She asked, smiling.

Austin stood staring, slightly open-mouthed for a second, stunned by the beauty of the woman in front of him – he had seen her somewhere before but he couldn't remember where… all he could think about right then was how pretty she was.

"Uhhhh…" Austin eventually stuttered. "Ye-yeah, sure, come on in." He said, moving to aside to allow her to walk past him and into the apartment.

She walked over towards the couch whilst Austin headed towards the kitchen, where they kept the matches. He grabbed them out of the drawer and walked over to where she was perched on the arm of the couch. "You're shivering a little… you okay?" Austin asked as he struck the first match and moved to light the candle.

"Yeah, I'm fine, they just turned off my heat so I'm a little chilly." She explained, with a warm smile that made Austin lose the ability to look away from her. She looked amazing in this lighting, with the streaks of light from the moon coming through the windows and illuminating her face and perfectly straight brown ombre hair "What are you staring at?" She asked with a giggle.

This snapped Austin from his trance as he tried to think of a quick recovery. "Nothing, nothing." He said quickly as he turned his attention back to the candle, which was now lit. "You just look familiar." He moved the match away and put it out.

Ally offered him a smile and a small "Thanks." before turning to leave the apartment. She only made it a few steps, however, before suddenly swaying on her feet and looking like she was about to fall… luckily Austin stepped in to grab her shoulders and support her.

"Can you make it?" He asked, worried.

She turned and gave him another smile. "I'm fine, honestly." Austin let go of her shoulders, dropping his arms to his sides. "I just haven't eaten much today. Besides, it was a lot worse earlier, the room was spinning and everything." She said with a small laugh. She noticed Austin was just staring at her again. "What?"

"Oh, nothing, it's just your smile reminds me of…" He trailed off as thoughts of Cassidy entered his mind again, but the woman in front of him soon snapped him out of that with another laugh.

"Don't worry, I always remind people of someone else." She said. "Who is she?" She asked almost mockingly.

"She died." Austin said bluntly. She looked a little taken aback by this, but he continued. "Her name was Cassidy."

The woman stifled a gasp at this and discreetly blew out the candle, intrigued by the man in front of her and not really wanting to leave just yet. "The candle blew out again, sorry." She said apologetically with a sad smile. "And I'm sorry about your friend. Were you close?"

"Yeah. She was my girlfriend of two years." Austin replied, smiling fondly at the happy memories before grimacing at the way it ended. "And I think you can guess why it ended." He finished, looking up at the woman to find sympathy and genuine caring in her eyes.

"I'm sorry. But some things just happen for a reason." She said, walking over and gently rubbing his shoulder.

"Thanks." Austin replied with another small smile, before bringing the matches back out of his pocket and relighting her candle.

However, neither of them moved when it was lit, instead finding themselves locked staring at each other. Austin was completely transfixed by her beautiful, deep brown eyes. They simultaneously smiled, and for the first time in a while Austin felt completely calm and happy. It was weird.

Just then Ally let out a small squeal and stuck her thumb into her mouth. "Ow." She said. "Sorry, the wax dripped on my fingers." She explained.

"Ouch. I hate that." Austin said, suddenly feeling a little awkward.

"Same… but, hot wax can be fun sometimes…" Ally said flirtatiously, walking slowly towards him.

Austin quickly backed away and replied. "Yes, yes I guess you're right. Oh well, goodnight." He said, gesturing towards the door and turning towards the windows.

She was a little confused by his sudden change of character, but simply shrugged and went to leave the apartment with her candle, when she suddenly realised she no longer had the stash she had when she walked in. She muttered a curse and once again blew out the candle, before knocking on the door and walking back in.

"The candle blow out again?" Austin asks, turning back to the door to see the woman frantically patting all her pockets and looking round on the floor.

She suddenly stops and looks up at him. "Uh, yeah." She said, remembering her excuse for being back in the apartment. "But I also lost… something… in here."

As she scurried around the living area, Austin studied her again. "I know I've seen you somewhere, back when I used to go out…"

"Umm have you ever been to the Cat Scratch Club?" She asked as she got on the floor to look under the coffee table. Austin nods. "Well I work there – I'm a dancer." She explains.

"Ah yeah I remember you now!" Austin says, smiling. "Man, sorry, I guess I didn't recognise you when you're not in handcuffs." He joked with her. She turned and gave him a stern look.

"Funny. It's a living, okay? Now will you help me look?" She said, standing up.

"I thought you were here because your candle blew out." Austin said smugly, walking over to her with the matches.

"Uh, yeah, that's it." She said, holding up the candle for him, which he lit.

"Why don't you forget that dancing stuff though? You only look like 16." He said.

"I'm 19 actually." She replied smugly. "And I happen to be very old for my age, okay?" She said, before continuing to look around.

"Okay, be honest with me here. I know what you're looking for." Austin said.

"Uhh… what do you mean?" She replied nervously.

"I've been in your position. I used to shiver like that."

"I told you, I have no heat." She defended.

"Yeah, I believe you. But you're sweating."

"I… uh… I got a cold."

"Face it, I know because I used to be a junkie too!" He finally concludes, and she knew she was defeated.

"Well I like to feel good sometimes, okay?" She said, looking around the sofa.

Just then Austin spotted the small bag of powder the woman was looking for just by his feet. He quickly bent down and scooped it up, placing it in his back pocket, but accidentally saying "Oh, here it is." quietly as he did so.

"What?" The woman said, quickly turning round to him.

"Oh… nothing… just a candy bar wrapper." Austin lied.

The candle had by this point, with all the movement, gone out again. "Could you light my candle again please?" She asked smiling and walking over to him.

Austin opened the match box but found it empty. "Sorry, I'm all out." He said with a shrug.

She also shrugged. "Okay, I guess I'll just thank God for the moon, huh?" She said with another smile, before sitting next to him on the couch.

Their hands brushed together, and she 'accidentally' rested hers on top of his. "Your hands are cold." Austin chuckled.

"So are yours." She said, also chuckling. There was a couple of seconds of silence as she subtly intertwined their fingers. "You wanna dance?" She said suddenly, standing up and dragging him with her.

"Uhh… sure?" Austin replied as she rested her hands on his back and he placed his gently on her hips. "I'm Austin, by the way." He said as he realised they hadn't even been properly introduced.

The woman smiled and slowly moved her hands down his back, reaching into his back pocket and grabbing the stash he had found and hidden from her. "Ally." Is all she said, pulling her hand from the pocket with the bag in hand, waving it in front of his hand before strutting out of the apartment.

And Austin was left stood there, dumbfounded, simply thinking: "Wow."

. . . . .

 **There's chapter three.**

 **This is a little longer than the previous two chapters, it was either that or not completely do the whole scene with Ally…**

 **Speaking of Ally, what did you think of her and Austin's first encounter? Did you love it? Hate it? Please please please let me know in a review, it helps a lot!**

 **Remember to follow, favourite and review and I'll see you next Friday with another brand new chapter!**

 **Catch you later! :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi everyone, it's Friday and you know what that means! Another chapter of RENT!**

 **Just a little note: this story will not be completely Auslly focused… they will play a key part of the plot, however the storyline of Rent also means that their story is not all that we focus on. I will do my best to include them as much as possible, however this will just not be an intense Auslly story (i.e. Auslly will not feature in this chapter). I hope you guys don't mind and continue to read and enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own RENT: The Musical (or movie), Austin & Ally or anything you recognise from the show in any way, shape or form, nor do I own any recognisable brands, songs or lyrics within them.**

 **I hope you guys like this chapter!**

. . . . .

 _ **Chapter 4**_

Trish was getting more and more aggravated at her inability to figure out how all this damn equipment worked! She had been so keen to make Kira happy and take over Dez's role as her production manager as well as lover, but it just didn't seem to be going her way at all. She was a lawyer, not an electrician!

It didn't help that it was Christmas Eve, and therefore – not at all surprisingly – very, very, _very_ cold! Trish continued desperately moving everything round, mumbling incoherently to herself about how it would be so much easier if she could actually feel her hands.

She was surrounded by a mess of cables, and was seriously starting to consider just using them to strangle herself, when she heard a voice she hated call out to her "Hey Trish."

Dez was here.

"Dez! What the hell are _you_ doing here?" Trish growled at him.

"Well, since _you_ seem to be completely incapable of the setting up the simplest electrical equipment…" He began, and already Trish wanted to rip his head off. "Kira had to call me and ask me to come and give you a hand." He finished smugly, with a smirk on his face and his hands stuffed into his pockets.

"Watch your tone, freckles." Trish warned. "And besides, I'm fine, I don't need your help. So why don't you just run along." She said waving him off.

"Yeah, it sure looks like you have this under control." The tall man replied, sarcastically.

"Whatever." Trish grumbled.

They both let out a sigh, knowing that the sooner they got this done, the quicker they could both go home and relax before Kira's performance.

Trish shifted over slightly and allowed Dez to walk over and crouch next to her, inspecting the equipment and pick up from whatever Trish had, or hadn't, done thus far.

He stifled a laugh when he saw how little she had achieved, and that most of what she had done was completely wrong. "You really have no idea what you're doing, do you?" He asked with a chuckle.

"No, not at all." Trish replied with a giggle. "I'm just doing it to make Kira happy."

"Well, that's one thing we have in common, at least." Dez replied with a sigh.

"Oh get over it, Dez." Trish said, returning to her standard harsh tone. "Kira's moved on from you, she doesn't like you anymore."

"Yeah yeah I know. Whatever." He grumbled, and he set to work setting everything up the way it was supposed to be.

After a few minutes, Dez had got one of Kira's microphones set up. "Okay Trish, I need you to say something into the microphone for me."

"What do you want me to say?" Trish asked, standing up.

"Anything."

"Anything?"

"Anything!"

"Fine!" Trish snapped. "Test one, two, three." She spoke clearly into the microphone and Dez cringed, having known that was what she would say.

"Anything but that!" He snapped back.

"You said anything!" Trish shouted, the two of them quickly getting into a heated argument as they so often tended to when they were around each other.

"Yeah but could you not be any more creative than that? Seriously!"

"Oh shut up Dez! Did it work or not? I want to get out of here!" She retaliated, bored of the constant shouting matches with the redhead.

"Uhh I think so, just say something again – just not 'test one two three'!" He said, imitating Trish's voice as he quoted her previous attempt.

Trish stepped back up to the microphone with a smirk. "Dez is a doof, I repeat, Dez is a complete, ignorant, stupid annoying doof!" She spoke clearly.

"Much better!" Dez said sarcastically, glaring at the short woman. "But it worked so whatever."

"It worked!? You mean I actually helped make some of Kira's equipment work?" Trish said excitedly, and Dez just slowly nodded his head in response, a little confused. At this, Trish let out a short, high-pitched squeal. "My Kira will be so proud of me!" She gushed, and Dez chuckled.

"Oh Trish. Poor, poor, deluded Trish." He said, shaking his head at the ground with a smirk.

"What?" Trish replied, annoyed.

"Nothing. You'll find out soon enough. Just a shame you've fallen into Kira's trap, is all."

Trish narrowed her eyes at the man in front of her. "And what the hell is that supposed to mean?" She hissed menacingly.

"Kira's got you all caught up in her little dance, Trish. You're wrapped around her little finger, exactly like she wants you to be. It happens to everyone she dates." 

Trish scoffed. "Actually, I'll have you know it's completely different with me." She said smugly, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

Now it was Dez's turn to scoff. "Really?"

"Really."

"Hmm. Sure. Let me give you some examples."

Another scoff from Trish. "Whatever."

"Has she ever pouted her lips at you…" Dez demonstrates this. "and called you 'pookie'?" He said, doing a whiny voice to represent Kira.

"Never." Trish said.

"Ah, then relish this time. That's how you know it's near the end." 

"You're not scaring me, Wade." Trish said, using Dez's rarely used last name.

"Have you ever doubted something about your relationship when she's kissed you?" Dez continued his questioning. He could see this question made Trish a little uncomfortable, as she squirmed a little in her spot before answering.

"Umm… nooooo?" Trish said in a questioning tone and extending the word, a dead giveaway to Dez that she was lying.

"You have, haven't you?" He said, but not in a mocking tone like Trish had expected. It was almost sympathetic and caring. Almost.

"Maybe…" Trish said. "Okay so maybe I don't completely trust Kira, but is that so wrong?"

"No, it's right to be. I'm advising you to be cautious here. I've been in your position Trish. And, as much as I don't like you very much, I wouldn't want you to have to go through the same thing I did, cos let me tell you it's not a nice experience."

Trish smiled slightly as she looked up at the tall redhead. Maybe he wasn't completely awful after all. "Can I ask you something?" She said hesitantly.

"Sure." 

"How did you know when things were going wrong… with Kira?"

Dez chuckled grimly. "Well that was the problem. I didn't. That's why I'm trying to help you. She had me swooning, I was hooked."

"I can relate." Trish added, jokingly. "Did she flirt with other people… like whilst you were together?"

Dez scoffed again. "More than flirt, I'm sure." Trish looked slightly sad and sympathetic. "But it didn't matter, I had fallen hard for her anyway and nothing was really gonna stop that. I knew that I would never willingly leave her. So I had to just sit and wait and then just accept it when it happened."

"Wow." Trish said grimly.

"Yeah." Dez replied in the same tone. There was silence for a few seconds before Dez spoke again. "Anyway, the equipment's all set up now, so I guess we're done here."

Trish brightened up a bit at this news. "Great! I… I know I should have said this earlier, but thanks for helping me out."

"No problem." Dez replied with a smile. "I guess I'll see you at the performance?"

"Sure."

And with that they parted ways, heading back to their apartments until they would head back out to see Kira do what Kira did best… well, apart from cheating on her lovers, that is.

. . . . .

 **That's the end of chapter four!**

 **Sorry there was no Auslly in this chapter, I know that's what most people are here for, but like I said at the start of the chapter this story isn't really focused on their relationship alone, but I will do my best to manipulate it so that they are in it as much as possible!**

 **Remember to follow, favourite and review this story and check out my others whilst you're at it!**

 **Catch you later! :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hi everyone, welcome back to this story!**

 **Wow… so this has been a hectic couple of days, so this chapter is really short and kinda lame – sorry! I'll try and make it up to you in the next chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own RENT: The Musical (or movie), Austin & Ally or anything you recognise from the show in any way, shape or form, nor do I own any recognisable brands, songs or lyrics within them.**

 **I hope you guys like this chapter!**

. . . . .

 _ **Chapter 5**_

Dez got back to the apartment to find Austin still inside, having not gone out. At first, Dez was a little annoyed that Austin hadn't left the apartment, but he could soon tell that something was up with him from the way he was acting.

"So… anything exciting happen while I was out?" Dez asked, trying to subtly encourage Austin to tell him what had happened.

"No." Austin said rather too quickly. Dez smirked.

"Really? Are you sure? Cos you're sure not acting like it." He replied, pacing back and forth in front of Austin, as if he was interrogating him – which, in a way, he kind of was.

"Yep, I'm sure." Austin replied, swallowing, before putting on a fake smile and letting out a nervous, and equally fake, chuckle.

"Okay, Austin. Just remember that I know you better than anyone else, and you're not acting normally… you're acting the way you normally do… when you meet a _girl_." Dez finishes, once again smirking at his blonde best friend.

"Girl? What? Pfft, no, there's no girl…" Austin replied.

Dez simply raised an eyebrow at Austin, he didn't have to say anything at this point and they both knew it. Dez had won.

"Her name is Ally and she lives in this building and she came in when you were gone asking me to light her candle because the electricity went out and she had no heat and she's short but really beautiful with brown ombre hair which really suits her and she's a dancer at the Cat Scratch club but I think she might have some addiction since she came back in looking for her 'stash' but honestly I don't care right now I just can't stop thinking about her!" Austin said all in one breath before collapsing onto the couch and breathing heavily.

Dez just stood there shocked, mouth hanging slightly open… no girl – no, scratch that – no _person_ had ever had this effect on Austin before. "Wow…" He finally managed to say.

"I know." Austin replied.

"So… Ally… that's a pretty name." Dez said, teasing his friend slightly.

"You know it." Austin moaned, rolling over and burying his face in a cushion.

"You have a bit of a crush, huh?" Dez continued to mock.

"You could say that." Came Austin's muffled reply from the couch.

"Well… why don't you invite her with us to see Kira's show? Then she could come with us for the meal afterwards as well?" Dez suggested.

"Dez, I spoke to her for like 5 minutes I doubt she even remembers who I am, why would she want to go on a date with me?"

"But that's the beauty of it, Austin, it's as part of a huge group, so it wouldn't be a 'date' but you're still getting to spend time with her and get to know her."

"I dunno, Dez." Austin replied, nervous about the prospect of asking Ally out, even if just as part of a group of friends.

"C'mon Austin, this isn't like you at all! What happened to the confident, strong, I-can-do-anything Austin Moon I grew up with? Why don't you ju-'' Dez was cut off by a knock at the door.

Austin quickly leapt up and walked towards the door, thankful that the conversation with Dez had been interrupted.

"This discussion isn't over, Moon." Dez said just before Austin reached the door.

"Whatever." Austin grumbled back before swinging open the door to reveal their brown-haired friend they had been waiting for all evening. "Elliot!" He exclaimed, pulling the other man into a bro-hug, before stepping aside to let him in.

"Hey Austin, hey Dez." Elliot replied, walking in and giving Dez a hug too.

"What took you so long?" Dez asked as they pulled away from the hug.

"I may have got a little side-tracked…" Elliot replied.

"What do you mean 'side-tracked'?" Austin asked.

"Well, I was on my way here," Elliot began "and I got mugged and beaten up." He said calmly.

The other two men looked a bit confused.

"You're remarkably calm about this…" Austin said after a few seconds of silence.

"That's because it's not all bad. They didn't really get anything… I mean, not that I had much for them to get anyway. But not only that, I also happened to meet a new friend." Elliot said with a smirk.

Before Dez or Austin could ask about this 'new friend', Elliot put two fingers in his mouth and whistled loudly. Again, the other two men were about to ask what was going on when a man they had never seen before, in full Santa-style drag, burst through the door.

"Austin and Dez, I present to you Dallas Centineo!"

. . . . .

 **Umm yeah that's it. Sorry again, I know it's short and nothing really happens but like I said I haven't had any time to focus on writing recently so I had to rush this one a bit.**

 **Remember to follow, favourite and review this story and check out my others whilst you're at it!**

 **Catch you later! :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hi everyone, welcome back to this story!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own RENT: The Musical (or movie), Austin & Ally or anything you recognise from the show in any way, shape or form, nor do I own any recognisable brands, songs or lyrics within them.**

 **I hope you guys like this chapter!**

. . . . .

 _ **Chapter 6**_

Austin and Dez simply stood there in shock, with wide eyes and mouths slightly agape as they watched the man they now knew as Dallas, in full Santa drag, strut over to Elliot and sling an arm around his neck, kissing him on the cheek in the process.

"Hey guys." Dallas said, looking at Austin and Dez.

"Uh… h-hi…" Dez replied. "I'm Dez." Dez put his hand out for Dallas to shake, but it seemed the man in drag was having other ideas as he instead wrapped Dez in a tight hug.

"I'm a hugger!" Dallas exclaimed as he continued to hug Dez, who was starting to struggle to breath due to the tight nature of the bear hug he was receiving, earning a chuckle from Austin.

At this, Dallas released Dez and turned to the blonde man, saying "And you must be Austin!" before practically jumping at Austin, giving him the same treatment as he gave to a still-recovering Dez.

"Hi Dallas." Austin wheezed after he was released.

"So you boys are coming out with us to the meal after Kira's show, right?" Elliot asked Dez and Austin, who had collapsed onto the couches.

"I want to; I just don't know if I can afford it." Dez said with a groan.

"Ditto." Added Austin.

"Oh honey, don't you worry about that!" Dallas said, walking over to the men on the couches and pulling two fifty dollar bills out of the front of his costume and handing one to each of them.

"Whoa…" Austin said as he looked at the green note in his hand – he'd never even owned a fifty dollar bill before in his life.

"Dallas… where did you get this money from?" Dez asked, also looking strangely at the cash in his hand.

"Well, you see, I'm a street drummer…" Dallas began but got quickly cut off by Austin.

"Wait, you get this much money just from performing on the streets? Maybe I shou-'' But he was also cut off.

"Hang on, let me finish!" Said Dallas. He then suddenly got a glint in his eye and an excited look on his face. "In fact…" He said, walking over to the two drum sticks he spotted on one of the kitchen bar stools.

Dallas then proceeded to start hitting random objects all throughout the apartment, creating the most amazing beat any of the men had ever heard before. He then start speaking and singing along to his drum beat.

 _It was my lucky day today on Avenue A,_

 _When a lady in a limousine drove my way._

 _She said, "Dahling, be a dear - I haven't slept in a year,_

 _I need your help to make my neighbour's yappy dog disappear._

 _This Akita, Evita, just won't shut up!_

 _I believe if you play non-stop that pup_

 _Will breathe its very last high-strung breath_

 _I'm certain that cur will bark itself to death!"_

 _Today for you, tomorrow for me_

 _Today for you, tomorrow for me_

 _We agreed on a fee - a thousand dollar guarantee_

 _Tax-free (and a bonus if I trim her tree!)_

 _Now who could foretell that it would go so well,_

 _But sure as I am here that dog is now in doggy hell!_

 _After an hour, Evita - in all her glory –_

 _On the window ledge of that 23rd story,_

 _Like Thelma & Louise did when they got the blues,_

 _Swan dove into the courtyard of the Gracie Mews_

 _Today for you - tomorrow for me_

 _Today for you - tomorrow for me_

At this point Dallas strutted over to where Elliot was now perched on the edge of the kitchen table, using this to continue his drum beat as he continued his little song-rap thing.

 _Then back to the street, where I met my sweet_

 _Where he was moaning and groaning on the cold concrete!_

 _The nurse took him home for some mercurochrome,_

 _And I dressed his wounds and got him back on his feet._

 _Sing it!_

 _Today for you, tomorrow for me_

 _Today for you, tomorrow for me_

 _Today for you, tomorrow for me_

 _Today for you, tomorrow for me!_

Dallas then really ended his performance in style by suddenly dropping to the floor in a perfect split. Elliot, Dez and Austin all cheered and clapped loudly as Dallas remained in the splits for around a minute, catching his breath.

"Wait, so I'm guessing you two are kind of a thing now?" Dez asked, indicating between Dallas and a proud-looking Elliot.

"We are indeed." Elliot said, smiling down at Dallas, who he was now hugging from behind.

"Yep." Dallas returned the smile to Elliot, before seeing the clock behind him. "Oh shit, babe we need to go if we're going to make it to the Life Support meeting."

"Ah yeah you're right." Elliot said, also glancing behind him at the clock.

Life Support was a local group for all the residents of the area who had AIDs to get together and just talk about it all and help each other deal with it as best they could. Elliot had been attending since he found out he had it, and found it really useful. Both he and Dez had been constantly trying to persuade Austin to go along too since the whole Cassidy incident, but he had completely refused.

"Wait, you're both…" Dez trailed off.

"Yep." Dallas replied with a smile.

"Okay then…" Dez said, slightly confused by how happy Dallas seemed about that fact… but at least he was being optimistic!

"Well we better go then." Elliot said.

"Wait, Austin… do you think you should go with them, maybe?" Dez asked hopefully, turning to Austin who gave him a look he knew all too well.

"Don't even bother trying Dez, you know what I'm gonna say." Austin replied.

"Okay, fine. Fair enough." Dez sighed, slightly frustrated but not wanting to turn it into a whole argument and scene like it had in the past. It was Christmas Eve, after all.

"Right, well we'll see you guys at Kira's performance then!" Dallas said, clapping his hands together enthusiastically.

"Yeah, sure, will do." Dez said, walking with Elliot and Dallas over to the door.

"Bye guys." Elliot said as he walked out the door, linking arms with Dallas.

Dez shut the door behind them and leant against it, looking over at Austin. "Wow." They both said in unison.

. . . . .

 **There's chapter six! I hope you guys enjoyed it.**

 **Remember to follow, favourite and review this story and check out my others whilst you're at it!**

 **Catch you later! :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hi everyone, welcome back to this story!**

 **So I'm really sorry but this is probably also going to be quite a short chapter due to time and work and stuff like that… sorry.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own RENT: The Musical (or movie), Austin & Ally or anything you recognise from the show in any way, shape or form, nor do I own any recognisable brands, songs or lyrics within them.**

 **I hope you guys like this chapter!**

. . . . .

 _ **Chapter 7**_

It was 8:30 in downtown Miami, and inside a local shelter sat a group of young adults, residents of the area, sat on cheap, plastic fold up chairs in a small circle. On the wall, an old, battered, distressed red banner hung, with the words "Life Support" vaguely visible, messily written in fading white paint.

It was cold, the small shack they called a shelter had no form of heating, and it was of course Christmas eve, mid-winter, a time that was renowned for being freezing cold even in Miami, a city usually associated with the warm and the sun.

Christmas carols could faintly be heard, playing out from an old, dirty speaker sat in one corner of the room, with a solitary empty CD case left on the floor next to it.

There were about 10 people in the circle. The leader of the group, Paul, stood up and looked around at all those in the room, offering each a warm smile. "Good evening everyone. First of all, merry Christmas!" At this, everyone's smiles brightened just slightly as the amazing power of the Christmas spirit touched them all even for just a second. "So, as normal, let's just go around and say our names so any first-timers or returners can know who everyone is. So my name is Paul." He said, before indicating to the woman on his right to do the same.

"Stacey."

"Mark." 

"Phil."

"Mary."

"Harry."

"Lucy."

Next to Lucy were two men, sat directly next to each other holding hands and smiling at each other, clearly almost entirely oblivious to everything around them as they enjoyed the feelings of comfort and happiness they felt around each other. Like those before them, they too each said their names, completing the circle of members.

"Dallas."

"Elliot."

That brought them back around to Paul, who remained standing and once again offered everyone a bright smile. "Well, welcome everyone to this meeting of the Life Support group."

It was normal practice to either all sing a song or play a game to begin the sessions, just to loosen everyone up and get them ready and happy to interact and just have a bit of fun. "So," Paul continued. "as it's Christmas Eve, why don't we sing a Christmas carol to begin?"

Everyone nodded, happy with this suggestion, and Paul walked over to the CD player and skipped through the tracks until he found the one he was looking for. The soft music of the carol drifted through the room and everyone began to sing, perfectly harmonising without even having to try.

 _In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,_

 _Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;_

 _Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,_

 _In the bleak midwinter, long ago._

 __

 _Our God, heaven cannot hold Him, nor earth sustain;_

 _Heaven and earth shall flee away when He comes to reign._

 _In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed_

 _The Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ._

 __

 _Enough for Him, Whom cherubim, worship night and day,_

 _Breastful of milk, and a mangerful of hay;_

 _Enough for Him, Whom angels fall before,_

 _The ox and ass and camel which adore._

 __

 _Angels and archangels may have gathered there,_

 _Cherubim and seraphim thronged the air;_

 _But His mother only, in her maiden bliss,_

 _Worshipped the beloved with a kiss._

 __

 _What can I give Him, poor as I am?_

 _If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;_

 _If I were a Wise Man, I would do my part;_

 _Yet what I can I give Him... give my heart._

Once the song was finished, everyone sat back down in their seats and got ready to begin the session properly. Paul, having put the CD back on its normal loop, re-joined the circle with the other members. He had just opened his mouth to speak when the door flew open and a tall ginger man entered, dragging another blonde man with him.

"H-hi…" Said Dez nervously.

"Hello, can we help you?" Asked Paul politely.

"Y-yes, sorry to interrupt, but my friend Austin here has been struggling on his own for a while, and I just thought that maybe he should come here… where you can help and support him." Dez explained, whilst Austin glared at him from behind.

"Oh yes of course, welcome! Come, take a seat Austin." Paul said, indicating to the stack of chairs.

Begrudgingly, Austin walked over to the stack, picked a chair up and walked over to the circle. He placed his chair down between Dallas and Lucy and sat down on it, offering the two men he knew a small "Hey." and a wave.

Satisfied, Dez shot Austin a smile, apologised to Paul again for interrupting, and left.

The session passed as normal, with the participants each sharing, if they were comfortable, why they were there and what worried them most about having AIDs.

Surprisingly, Austin actually did feel much better by the end of the session. He had expected to hate it vigorously, and have the worst time ever, but he was actually surprised by how reassuring it was to just share thoughts with people who were going through a similar thing to him.

When the hour was up, everyone stood up and placed their chairs away, before wishing each other a Merry Christmas and leaving, heading their separate ways.

Austin had enjoyed his time, but he was more than a little relieved when he got home and could just flop on the couch, exhausted. However it was not long before his solitude was interrupted…

. . . . .

 **There's chapter 7… yeah, kinda short and not much really happened, sorry! My time for writing this story is currently very limited, but I'm trying my best to try and update on the schedule with as good a chapter as I can make.**

 **But seriously, I know it's really early, but just writing about Christmas is making me** _ **so**_ **excited I already can't wait!**

 **Please remember to follow, favourite and review, your support seriously means SO much to me!**

 **Catch you later :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hi everyone, welcome back to this story!**

 **So… umm… sorry? It's been a really busy couple of weeks for me and I haven't had any pre-written chapters I could upload, but I'm back now and hopefully from now on chapters should be back to their once-a-week goodness! And, to make up for the lack of chapters, Austin and Ally meet again in this chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own RENT: The Musical (or movie), Austin & Ally or anything you recognise from the show in any way, shape or form, nor do I own any recognisable brands, songs or lyrics within them.**

 **I hope you guys like this chapter!**

. . . . .

 _ **Chapter 8**_

Christmas is normally a time to celebrate relationships and family, a time spent with these people who are so special to us, generally just a time for being together. But, when you're Ally Dawson living in downtown Miami, this is a little difficult… because you're pretty much alone.

Ally's family all lived in Spain, she hadn't seen her parents in a few years, and romance was a bit of a tricky subject for her. Her relationships had always been a bit rocky and unstable, which is kind of understandable due to her job as an exotic dancer.

Ally didn't like her job. She hated it. But she needed it – everyone in this part of Miami needed all the money they could get. Paying rent was one thing, but Ally needed extra money for… medications… not to mention her addiction which needed fueling.

So you see, for Ally Christmas wasn't a time to be spent quietly with a few close family members in a sleepy winter wonderland cottage. Christmas was a time like any other: a time to party!

It was around 10pm and Ally started getting ready for a night out on the town with whoever she could get to go with her. She ran through her standard checklist:

Hair: Check

Make-up: Check

Slightly revealing outfit: Check

Money: … not exactly

But Ally soon decided this didn't really matter, she knew how to get her way, and she was an expert at getting into places without having to pay.

Ally threw everything into her clutch and strutted out of her apartment. As she was making her way down the hallway towards the stairwell, not even bothering to try the elevator knowing it wouldn't be working, Ally heard the gentle sound of the most beautiful guitar melody coming from behind the doors of an apartment.

Music had always been Ally's secret passion. In school she'd always done extremely well in the subject and had been encouraged by all her music teachers to apply for a music college like Julliard or MUNY, but Ally knew that her family would never be able to afford to send her to one of those schools, with or without scholarship.

Ally stopped dead in her tracks to listen to the soft strumming of the guitar, and at this moment she realised this was the apartment she went to earlier to get a light for her candle! It was where that blonde dude lived… oh what was his name? Dustin? No… Justin? No! Austin! Yes, that was it! Austin!

She thought back to their earlier encounter. There was no denying the fact that Austin was cute by any standards! He seemed like the type of guy who could party, but didn't really want to… Ally felt a strange desire to encourage Austin to come out of his shell and enjoy himself more! And what better way than to bring him out to party on Christmas Eve?

Without hesitating, Ally knocked loudly on the apartment door, heard the guitar suddenly stop and a confused grumble, before someone got to their feet and she heard footsteps approaching the door. Next was the sound of locks clicking, and then the door swung open to reveal the tall blonde she remembered from earlier, in all his attractive glory.

"Hey Austin!" Ally said in an excited, yet flirty voice.

"Uh… hi, Ally." Came the reply. Ally felt happy when she noticed Austin's eyes skimming over her and her outfit quickly before returning up to meet her own.

"Do you wanna come out to a club with me?" She asked, batting her eyelids at him.

"Ummmm… not really." She felt her once gleaming smile falter slightly at these words… did he turn her down?

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I don't really tend to go out much." Austin replied, shrugging his shoulders and looking down.

"What? That's crazy! You're a young, hot guy, you should be out tearing up all the clubs in Miami you can find!" Ally said enthusiastically.

"Well I used to do that, but I haven't since…" These few words brought back to Ally's memory what Austi had told her about his last girlfriend committing suicide.

"Oh, yeah, I get it." She replied softly, looking down at the floor. "But… maybe it's time to change that!" Ally said, moving to hold his hand. She was surprised when he suddenly ripped his hand back away from hers at the first hint of contact.

"No, Ally." Austin said, the words coming out much colder and sharper than he had intended. Ally didn't even bother trying to hide the hurt that flashed across her face, and this didn't go unnoticed by Austin, either, who felt a horrible pang in his chest.

"Okay, I get it…" Ally said sadly, before turning and continuing to walk down the hallway, shoulders down, spirit ruined, hurt at the quite brutal rejection she had just experienced.

Austin looked after her retreating figure, part of him wanting to call out and apologise to her, but the other, larger part saying it was no use and that the damage had been done. He let out a sigh, walked back into his apartment and shut the door before leaning back against it. _'Why did I reject her?'_ He thought to himself.

. . . . .

 **So I know it's not really the perfect kind of interaction everyone was hoping for, but it's something! Remember, it can only go up from here!**

 **Please remember to follow, favourite and review, it means so much to me! And whilst you're on my profile, why not check out my other stories too? ;)**

 **Catch you later! :)**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey everyone, welcome back to this story!**

 **Hehehe… remember me? Yeah… so last time I said chapters would be back to once a week… oops! I guess we can all tell that that's not really gonna happen… sorry. I'll try and update as often as I can, though, and that's a promise!**

 **Can't remember if I've already done this warning before, but I'll do it again just to be sure, this story contains some strong language.**

 **I hope you guys enjoy this chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own RENT: The Musical (or movie), Austin & Ally or anything you recognise from the show in any way, shape or form, nor do I own any recognisable brands, songs or lyrics within them.**

. . . . .

 ** _Chapter 9_**

Half an hour later, Austin was back on the couch with his trusty guitar, when Dez walked in, returning from… wherever it was Dez had been, Austin didn't really have a clue. Although, knowing the eccentric redhead well he knew it could literally have been anywhere and it was probably best to not ask.

"Hey buddy." Dez said, strolling into the kitchen to find something to snack on.

"'Sup." Replied Austin, putting his guitar down and joining Dez in the kitchen to get a glass of water.

"So Kira's performance starts in like an hour." Dez said. "Why don't we head out now? We can drop by the market on our way; see if we can get any cheap last-minute sales."

Austin groaned, he didn't really want to leave the apartment at all if he could avoid it, he only agreed to go to Kira's performance at all to be a good friend and support her. "Dez…" He grumbled, slightly resembling an 8-year-old who'd just been told by his mom that he needed to go get a haircut.

"Oh come on, Austin, you can't stay in here forever."

"I can try…" Austin replied under his breath.

"Besides, I've already told Elliot and Dallas that we'll meet them there so you don't have a choice, come on let's go!" Dez said quickly, grabbing Austin by the arm and literally dragging him out of the apartment. Austin just had time to put down the glass he was currently drinking from as he let out a muffled squeal, caught off guard by his insane best friend's sudden action.

A few minutes later the two men were walking down the street towards the annual Christmas market, both grumbling to themselves incoherently about how much they hated the cold.

As they turned a corner, a couple of blocks away from the market, they found themselves approaching two homeless people sat against a wall, one of them asleep, which was not at all uncommon in this part of the city.

However, approaching them from the other side, and somewhat closer to them than Austin and Dez, were a couple of police officers the men recognised, they were notorious for alleged reports of abusive behaviour towards the homeless, and instantly Austin and Dez could tell this situation had the potential to turn real bad, real quick.

As the two officers came to a halt in front of the two homeless people, the awake man looked up and noticeably paled slightly. "Evening, officers." They heard the man say, obviously trying to remain calm and show no hint of any fear.

Without warning, one of the officers then raised his nightstick above his head, clearly ready to bring it crashing down upon the poor homeless man, a sickening, evil smirk upon his face.

Austin gasped, but a quick thinking Dez quickly whipped his handy video camera out of his pocket (he always carries a camera around) and took a step forward, ready to film the scene in front of him. "Smile for Miami News, Officer Jacobs." He said with a smirk, daring the cops to make another wrong move.

Officer Jacobs visibly hesitated, before slowly bringing his arm back down and holstering the nightstick, a stony glare gracing his features.

The commotion had, at this point, woken up the other homeless man, who quickly realised the situation and put on an obviously fake, cheesy smile to the cop before saying in an also clearly fake voice "And a Merry Christmas to your family."

The two police officers growled under their breath, before quickly walking away in the other direction. Austin breathed a sigh of relief that the situation had been avoided as Dez patted himself on the back, returning his video camera to his pocket.

They approached the homeless men, and helped up the one who had been awake, who was smiling at them, silently thanking Dez for intervening.

The other homeless man, however, was not as grateful, it seemed. "Who in the hell do you think you are?" He said to Dez, causing the redhead to be taken aback, not expecting the harsh tone to come from the man he had just helped.

"I-I'm sorry?" Dez stuttered.

"I don't need no help from some goddamn bleeding-heart cameraman!"

Austin stepped forward. "Look, man, we just wanted to make sure that you wouldn't get hu-''

The man took no notice of Austin, however, continuing to glare directly into Dez's eyes, who was looking beyond uncomfortable and afraid at this point. "My life ain't for you to make a name for yourself on!" He continued, seemingly getting more aggressive.

At this point the other man tried to reason with his friend, saying "Easy, dude, he was just trying to-''

"Just trying to use my position to kill his guilt!" The intimidating man said, not breaking eye contact with Dez the entire time. "Come on, Zeke, let's go." He continued, finally addressing the other man who had been more thankful for Dez's action. "These two are just a couple more mother fucking artists."

The two homeless men began walking away, but only went a couple of steps before the aggressive one turned back, walked back over to a still-bemused Dez and held out his hand. "Hey, artist, got a dollar?"

Dez just looked down at the man's hand, completely unsure of what to do, whilst Austin felt his whole body tense up as he got more and more angry at how this guy was treating his best friend and resisting the urge to get involved and potentially start a fight.

After a couple of seconds, the man sneered in Dez's face. "Didn't think so." Is all he said before once again walking off with the other man, not looking back.

. . . . .

 **There's chapter 9!**

 **Sorry, kinda short and not a lot happens, but like with my other current story (it's called Believe and you should all go and check it out… okay sorry I just had to) I'm just getting back into the flow of writing. I also just think this is a really interesting little scene in the play and it felt right to include it here.**

 **In the next chapter: Austin and Ally meet again! Whoooo! Make sure you keep checking back, I'm relaly hoping I'll find time to get that chapter up soon!**

 **Please remember to follow, favourite and review!**

 **Catch you later!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey everyone, welcome back to this story!**

 **Okay, it's been another couple of months, but those have also been the most stressful couple of months you could imagine, and I am determined I am not just gonna leave my stories to rot and die!**

 **Time for the next chapter of this story! I always feel like chapter 10's a bit of a milestone in any story, so I'm really glad I finally made it with this story!**

 **And, as promised, there is more Austin & Ally interaction in this chapter, and I've tried to make it a little longer to make up for the lack of chapters recently.**

 **I hope you guys enjoy this chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own RENT: The Musical (or movie), Austin & Ally or anything you recognise from the show in any way, shape or form, nor do I own any recognisable brands, songs or lyrics within them.**

. . . . .

 ** _Chapter 10_**

After a couple of minutes of walking in silence, it suddenly seemed as if Dez had completely forgotten about their… _discussion_ with the two homeless men, and he was back to his normal crazy, eccentric, endearing self as they continued their way to the market.

"So, what happened at the apartment when I was gone?" Dez suddenly turned to Austin, raising an eyebrow.

"W-What do you mean?" Austin hesitantly replied, thinking back to his rejection of Ally.

"Come on, Austin, I'm not stupid." Dez said, shaking his head slightly.

"You could've fooled me…" Austin murmurs under his breath, but either Dez doesn't hear or he chooses to ignore the comment as he continues speaking.

"I know you Austin, we've been friends since we were little kids, remember?"

There was silence for a couple of seconds as the men both had quick, fond memories of their childhoods.

"So, who is she?" Dez broke the silence. Austin didn't reply. "It was Ally again, wasn't i-''

"Oh, look, we're here!" Austin said, a little too enthusiastically, just happy to have an excuse to stop talking to Dez. The redhead allowed Austin to change the subject for now, but he was determined to get to the bottom of this Austin-Ally situation.

It was true, though, they had arrived at the small plaza where every year the Christmas Market came to town. Dim, mostly broken, multi-coloured fairy lights hang all over the place and there was Christmas music quietly in the background, coming from most of the mini stalls and tents that were scattered, all trying to lure customers to buy their wares.

The vast majority of items available at the market were fakes, as you could expect, but they were cheap, and in this area that's all that really mattered. Fakes they may be, but you could buy practically anything – watches, hat, coats, purses, you name it, it was all there.

The square was bustling with dozens of people shuffling around doing their last-minute shopping and desperately trying to bargain some good deals and discounts to save more precious money.

Dez immediately dashed off towards the cotton candy stand, leaving Austin standing alone on the corner. He took the time to look around at all the people, wondering how they all seemed to have their lives together better than he did and wishing his life was simpler.

Weirdly, as he stood there people-watching, Austin just couldn't get the short brunette he rejected earlier off his mind. He had been so adamant that he didn't want to go out with her, but he didn't even know why, and now she wouldn't get out of his head. He saw couples strolling round the stalls, joking about what they should get each other or their mates or their in-laws or whatever, and it gave him a weird pang in his chest, a sense of longing, desire… jealousy, even.

He already knew after his and Ally's first encounter that he had a crush on her, and Austin Moon was not one to fall easily. And once Austin Moon does have a crush, he acts on it. Austin Moon never gets nervous. Austin Moon never backs down.

Yet that's exactly what he'd done earlier – when Ally asked him out, he panicked. Austin had never actually been asked out before, he was always the one to do the asking. He supposed it must have just caught him off guard, is that why he panicked and said no? Either way, one thing he was certain of was that he should _not_ have said no to Ally.

Before his mental state could completely collapse, Austin decided to leave his spot in the corner and wander round the stalls, looking for anything even vaguely interested, in a desperate attempt to distract himself from the mistake that continued to torment him.

As he walked slowly through the busy market, he enjoyed the almost cacophonous sound of all the various sellers shouting about how amazing their products are; of course it was all complete lies but he appreciated the effort, and the atmosphere it set. Each of them was selling something that seemed exactly the same as everything else, yet weirdly different, unique and enticing.

He turned the corner into another row of stalls, only to see Dez with a huge stick of candy floss in one hand and about seven small plastic bags in the other, full of stuff he'd bought. That was another thing about Dez – his gullibility meant that it wasn't too difficult for the sellers to convince him that he absolutely couldn't live without their products, meaning Dez's already fairly empty wallet didn't really improve in health.

"Oh hey Austin, isn't this market like the best thing ever?" Dez asked enthusiastically, somewhat hyper from the large amount of candy floss he'd been eating.

"Uh, yeah, I guess…" Austin replied.

"Hey what's up with you?" Dez asked, noticing Austin's continuing out-of-it mood.

"Nothing." Austin replied nonchalantly.

"Ally's on the mind, isn't she?" Dez guessed, and Austin signed, realising he might as well just unload his worries onto Dez for moral support.

"Yeah…"

"What happened whilst I was out, dude?" He asked, placing a hand on Austin's shoulder and leading him away from the crowds slightly to lean against a wall whilst they spoke.

"Well just after I got back from Life Support, Ally turned up at the front door." Austin begins. "She asked me if I wanted to go out to a club with her tonight. But I said no…"

"Wait, I thought you had a crush on her…" Dez replied, confused.

"I did! I do!" Austin says.

"Then why did you say no to her?"

"I don't know! I panicked, okay?" Austin replied, putting his head in his hands in shame, and cringing slightly remembering back.

"Well… don't worry, it's not like she's gonna hate you for it or anything." Dez continued, trying to remain optimistic and positive.

"Not so sure about that…" Austin replies, thinking back to his cold attitude towards her.

"Oh God, what did you do?" Dez asked.

"She went to hold my hand when she was trying to convince me and I snapped it back pretty quickly."

"Well… yes, that wasn't the nicest thing, but I'm sure she wasn't too disheartened or-''

"And then she basically looked like I'd just kicked a puppy." Austin continues, cutting Dez off.

"Ah. Well. Yeah. You screwed it up. But it's not the end of the world, she'll forgive you."

"Dez, you've never even met the girl. How would you know?"

"Well, Austin, I'm not known as 'The Love Whisperer' for nothing."

"Dude, nobody calls you that!" Austin glanced over Dez's shoulder as he said this, and at that exact moment Ally walked into the market, holding an oversized coat tightly around her shoulders, clearly looking for someone. "Oh man, there she is."

Dez's head whipped around so fast it's a miracle he didn't get whiplash, eager to catch a glimpse of the girl who'd made such an impression on his best friend. "Where?"

"There, the short brunette." Austin replied, pointing Ally out.

"Whoa, dude, she's gorgeous!" Dez said, turning back to look at Austin quickly. "Man, you really screwed up saying no to _her_." He continued with a chuckle.

"Don't remind me…" Austin muttered under his breath.

"Go talk to her."

"What? Are you crazy?"

"I'm serious. Go. Now." Dez said, tapping his foot impatiently.

"Dude, are you kidding me, I can't just go up to her and-''

"That's it, you're going over there right now." Dez cut him off, trying to drag the blonde boy over in Ally's direction, with very little success.

Meanwhile, as the two men continued to debate whether Austin should go and speak to her, Ally continued to scout around the crowds looking for… _him_.

No, not Austin.

Her dealer. She was in no way proud of her addiction, but it's not like she could just stop – that's the whole problem of addictions! She'd tried everything to overcome it, but nothing ever seemed to work.

Having the addiction made Ally feel worthless. A mess. Like she deserved to die from an overdose. She'd lost track of the number of times she cried herself to sleep, or exiled herself from the rest of the world for days, weeks at a time because she couldn't bear to show her face and have everyone that knew of her addiction judge her.

Finally, she spotted him on the other side of the square, and began weaving her way through the crowds towards where he stood in a dark corner, surrounded by a couple of other women in the same predicament as her.

She was just a few feet away when she felt a tap on her shoulder, making her squeal slightly and quickly turn to see a familiar face with a mop of bright blonde hair, and the back of a ginger-haired man walking away mysteriously quickly in the other direction.

"Oh. Hey Austin." Ally said coldly, looking down at her shoes.

"H-hey, Ally." Austin said nervously, scratching the back of his neck and glancing to the side. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry for being so cold towards you earlier when you-''

"It's fine." Ally said sharply, cutting him off, still hurt from the way he treated her for no apparent reason.

Austin sighed. "Look, Ally, I really am sorry, I don't know why I acted that way. Can I please make it up to you?" He said, finally looking into Ally's eyes which were now staring back at his own, with the two making pretty much unbreakable eye contact.

"How?" Ally asked, expecting him to perhaps produce some lame fake handbag or something as an apology.

"Well… after Kira's protest performance tonight a bunch of us were gonna go out to get some food… you wanna come with me? I'll pay for you." He offered with a genuinely warm smile, something Ally was not used to receiving but that made her feel very happy and good inside.

"I'd love that." She replied with a smile of her own coming onto her face, and at that moment Austin decided to himself that smiling like that was a good look on her.

"Great." Austin replied. "If you wanted to come to the performance with us too…" He trailed off but Ally got the message.

"Sure thing!"

"Cool, why don't you go introduce yourself to Dez, my best friend – he's the tall ginger one over there by the candy stall." Austin said, pointing the redhead out. "I'll be over in a second."

"Okay. See you in a bit then, Austin." Ally said, before turning to start to walk away.

"Sure thing." He replied before also turning in the opposite direction, but barely got two steps before hearing her voice again.

"Oh, and Austin?" Ally called out.

"Yeah?" Austin answered, turning around to see Ally hurrying towards him, before throwing her arms around his neck in a hug which he openly received and reciprocated.

"Thanks. I haven't had people be nice to me like this in a long time." She says whilst they're hugging before stepping out of his arms.

"No problem." He replied, smiling down at her.

And with that Ally walked off across the square towards his weirdo best friend, and Austin spent a couple of seconds just staring after her. _'Yeah'_ , he thought, _'I got it bad.'_

This bliss lasted but seconds before he felt a rough hand slam onto his shoulder, and he turned around to see a tall, intimidating man stood behind him. "Hey buddy." The man said in a deep, gruff voice. "You get in the way of me and my client, you die. Get it?"

Austin was confused – did he mean Ally? And what did he mean 'get in the way'? Were they in some kind of relationship? Or was it just in terms of stopping Ally from buying… he assumed it was drugs. He thought it best not to ask and so just replied "S-sure…"

And just like that the man roughly released his grip on Austin's shoulder and disappeared back into the shadows, leaving Austin with a lot of questions… some of which he wasn't sure if he wanted to know the answers to.

. . . . .

 **And that's chapter 10 done! I am honestly so proud of this chapter, it's one of my favourite ones I've written in a long time!**

 **Once again sorry for the lack of updates, but this chapter was cute, right? Does that make up for anything?**

 **IMPORTANT: if you know the story of RENT already, you'll know that one of the key plot elements is the story of Collins and Angel, in this story Elliot and Dallas. My question is: would you like me to keep their storyline as a key plot element and detail it, or would you prefer for me to focus solely on Austin and Ally and just have their story like running in the background? I need to know what you guys want, as this will determine what I write in the next few chapters, so please review and let me know what you would prefer! Same thing with Kira and Trish, who have taken the roles of Maureen and Joanne.**

 **Thank you so much for reading and please remember to follow, favourite and review!**

 **Catch you later!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey everyone, welcome back to this story!**

 **So I'm away on vacation for a week now, so the plan is that chapters should start flowing now that I'm away from home, I always prefer writing when I'm away… although I do have my aunt and uncle's dog with me who is an giant fluff-ball who always wants to play so I might get a bit distracted…**

 **So I've decided that I am definitely going to keep a little bit of focus on the relationships between Elliot & Dallas and Trish & Kira, because they are kind of vital to the overall plot, but I will do my best to retain most of the attention on Austin and Ally. However, this chapter will feature them less (if at all) because we have some catching up to do with the other characters! Sorry if you're only here for the Auslly, it will come I promise! But you might as well at least try and enjoy the other characters' storyline, you might find a new OTP along the way… unlikely, but you never know.**

 **I hope you guys enjoy this chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own RENT: The Musical (or movie), Austin & Ally or anything you recognise from the show in any way, shape or form, nor do I own any recognisable brands, songs or lyrics within them.**

. . . . .

 ** _Chapter 11_**

Meanwhile, on the other side of the square, Dallas and Elliot had just arrived at the market, coming from Dallas' where they had gone to chill for a bit after the Life Support meeting.

The two hadn't stopped talking and laughing since the second they met, it was as if the second they laid upon each other they knew they were soul mates. And anyone else who saw them together would agree – they'd only met earlier that day but were already the most lovely couple.

They stopped on a corner as they arrived, turning to face each other as Elliot took both of Dallas' hands in his. "So what's the deal, are we like a thing now?" Elliot asked nervously. He knew he had already fallen for Dallas, and hard, but didn't know if Dallas was being so kind to him because he liked him or if he just pitied him after finding him so badly beaten up.

"Honey, we're not _a thing_." Dallas replied with a smile, looking into Elliot's eyes, whose heart had just dropped about 70 feet. "We're _everything_." Dallas finished, before starting to giggle.

Elliot had never felt so relieved in his life, as he started giggling along with his now boyfriend, before leaning down to kiss him. However, just as their lips were about to meet Dallas gabbed his hand and ran off towards the market, laughing as he pulled Elliot with him.

"Dallas, you know I can't afford anything here, I just got mugged, remember?" Elliot said as Dallas dragged him towards the stalls.

"Which is exactly why I'm buying you anything you want! It's Christmas, Ell!" Dallas replied, fishing out his wallet from his bag. "What do you want? A coat? A bag? One of each?"

"Please, Dal, I don't want you to buy me anything because I know I'll never be able to pay you back." Elliot reasoned.

"You don't have to pay me back!" Dallas replied desperately. "I don't want you to have to pay me back."

"But I don't want to take anything from you for nothing in return." Elliot replied, feeling bad. "Is there anything I can do for you so this isn't just a one-way thing?"

Dallas looked up at Elliot with a glint in his eye and a small smile on his face. "Yes. One thing."

"Name it." Elliot replied, matching Dallas' smile.

"Love me."

"W-what?" Elliot stuttered, unsure if he heard correctly.

"Just love me. I know you have nowhere decent to live, and you're not happy, so come and live with me and be with me and be _happy_. I'll cover you. If you really want to pay me back, then you can do it with a thousand kisses. That's all I want in return, babe. Deal?"

Elliot grinned at him, nothing but adoration in his eyes. "I think I can manage that. Deal." He replied, leaning his forehead against his boyfriend's.

"Good." Dallas giggled. "You wanna start the repayments now?" He asked with a flirtatious smirk.

"What an excellent idea." Elliot replied, quickly leaning in to catch Dallas' lips with his.

After a few seconds, Dallas pulled away and turned towards the stalls again. "Now that that's sorted, what do you want?" He asked, inspecting a handbag which looked pretty good but he was certain would fall apart within the day.

"Umm… well…" Elliot said, still feeling slightly awkward about how Dallas had basically offered to buy him everything he needed _forever_. "That coat's kinda nice," He said, pointing to an obviously-stolen fur coat. "but you know you don't have to-''

"The coat it is!" Dallas proclaimed happily, handing over the money to the vendor, before picking it up and putting it on Elliot. "Perfect!" He said happily. The coat really suited Elliot.

Elliot smiled looking down at the coat now surrounding his body, it would definitely keep him warmer and help to avoid a cold.

"Thanks Dal." He said warmly, staring into his eyes.

"No problem babe." Dallas replied before leaning up to give Elliot a quick peck on the lips. "Hey, isn't that Dez over there?" Dallas asks, looking over Elliot's shoulder and seeing the tall redhead talking to a short brunette girl he hadn't seen before.

Elliot turned his head to the direction Dallas was looking. "Oh yeah, but who's the girl?" He questioned curiously.

"No clue…" Dallas replied. "Let's go find out!" And before Elliot could even think about a response he was being dragged off towards them.

Meanwhile, a few blocks away at the performance space, Trish was frantically trying to help finish setting everything up for Kira's performance, whilst being hounded by one of her colleagues for falling behind on some work regarding a case they had been assigned to together. She was balancing her cell phone between her cheek and shoulder whilst helplessly fumbling with a microphone cable. "I know Steve, I'm sorry, I promise I'll review it over the next few days and we can talk about this on the 28th."

The sound of Kira loudly doing her (completely over-the-top in Trish's opinion) vocal warm-ups interrupted a vital piece of information Trish was being told about their client, and at this point Trish was ready to kill someone.

"Look, Steve, from what I've read already it seems like a pretty straightforward case to me. Sexual harassment with a side of racism – so aim to sue and a settlement will do it. How does that sound for now?" She asked, switiching the phone to the other side of her face and standing up to walk over to the box of cables.

Just as she got across the room she got another call coming in. "Thanks Steve, you're great. Hang on I have another call." She switched lines. "Hello?"

"Hey honey!" Came the reply. It was her father.

"Hi daddy. What's up?" She replied.

"It's Christmas Eve, just wanted to wish you a happy Christmas and tell you we all miss you!" He answered. Trish's family lived in Mexico and she very rarely got to see them, having moved to Miami 5 years ago for a better education and career.

"Aww I miss you too. Love to the family." Trish replied, only half concentrating on the conversation because of the issues the stupid microphone was having that she had no clue how to fix.

"So what are your plans? I hope you're going to take some time off for yourself." Trish's father knew she had a tendency to overwork herself, since she had always been so driven on getting the best results she possibly could – that's why she was such a good lawyer.

"Yeah dad, Kira has her protest performance tonight so I'm helping her with that but we're having the day off together tomorrow."

"Ah that's good." There was a small silence. "So… how is everything between you?" He had always been a little sceptical of their relationship, always wanting the best for his daughter.

"We're okay." Trish replied absentmindedly.

"Just okay?"

"Yeah… we haven't been together long, dad." Trish replied, realising she'd said the wrong thing.

"I know that honey, I just want to make sure you're making the right choice."

Trish was not in the mood for this conversation. "I know dad, it's fine trust me. I'll call you tomorrow. Love to the family." And with that she hung up on her dad and returned to the other line. "Sorry about that Steve. Any progress?"

After a few more minutes of law jargon and fumbling with equipment mixed with mild language, Trish was done. "That's great Steve, thanks. See you soon."

Trish stood up and let out a long sigh as she put her cell phone back in her pocket. Kira came out from her dressing room and walked over to Trish, planting a kiss on her cheek. "Hey babe, how's it all going?"

"We're all set." Trish replied with a proud smile.

"Yay!" Kira squealed with excitement. "Oh I'm so excited for this performance, pookie."

Trish grimaced at the name. "Yeah. Me too."

"Well, I need to go and finish getting ready. See you after the show." With that, Kira placed one more kiss on Trish's cheek and strutted off back to her dressing room.

. . . . .

 **Hope you guys enjoyed that chapter! Again, sorry to all the Auslly lovers who want nothing more than that but these characters are all vital in the long-run!**

 **Please remember to follow, favourite and review!**

 **Catch you later!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hi everyone, welcome back to this story!**

 **Happy Christmas Eve! This is the one day a year when this story's current time setting is actually accurate, and I wanna try and make the most of that! So, here is an extra-long chapter, completing all the events that happen on Christmas Eve!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own RENT: The Musical (or movie), Austin & Ally or anything you recognise from the show in any way, shape or form, nor do I own any recognisable brands, songs or lyrics within them.**

 **I hope you guys like this chapter!**

. . . . .

 _ **Chapter 12**_

"Hi, you're Dez, right?" Ally asked as she approached the tall redhead Austin had pointed her towards. As she walked towards him she decided he looked kind, very friendly, and judging by the strange amount and mixture of colour he was wearing, slightly eccentric. She'd always been a good instant judge of character.

"That's me!" The redhead replied excitedly with a smile, offering his hand for Ally to shake. "I'm guessing you're Ally." She nods. "Man. I can totally see why Austin's already so obsessed with you." He says nonchalantly.

Ally initially giggles at what Dez says, and is about to thank him for the compliment, when what he had said actually processed in her brain and her face changed into one of confusion. "Wait, what? What do you me-''

She is cut off by a man she has never seen before running over, dragging another unfamiliar man behind him. "Hey Dez!" The first man announces loudly and excitedly.

"Hey Dallas, Elliot." Dez replies calmly. "Guys, this is Ally, Austin's date to dinner tonight." He introduces the short brunette, who smiles gently at the two men.

"Oooh giiiiirl, you are smoking! Austin has better taste than I give him credit for." Dallas compliments, making Ally giggle as he pulls her into a hug. "I'm Dallas, this is my new _boyfriend_ -'' Dallas and Elliot smile at each other as he says this. "Elliot."

"Nice to meet you." Elliot says, extending his hand for Ally to shake, which she does.

"Nice to meet you both. I'm guessing you guys are Austin's friends too?" She replies, already taking a liking to Dallas in particular. She could tell already this was gonna be a great group of friends to be with.

"Elliot's been mine and Austin's best mate since we moved here, but we only met Dallas tonight." Dez explained.

"Oh, I won't be the only newbie in the group tonight then." Ally says with a relieved giggle, looking at Dallas.

"You got that right; we're in this together babes." Dallas replies, and he and Ally share a small laugh. "You are just gonna be my best friend, I can tell already." He continues, linking their arms whilst holding Elliot's hand with his other.

"Oh hey, Ally, where actually is Austin?" Dez asked, suddenly curious realising the tall blonde's absence.

Ally also has a moment of realisation. "Oh… he said he'd be just behind me when I came over to introduce myself to you…" She explains.

Just then the man in question returned, appearing beside Ally and slinging an arm around her shoulders. "Hey guys. Elliot. Dallas." He greets, nodding to the two men and fist-bumping them. "Everyone excited for the performance?"

Everyone nods and comments about how excited they are to see Kira tear apart Jace's policies in protest – they didn't all know Kira personally, but she certainly already had a reputation and everyone knew that if there was anyone who could make this protest it was her.

"Well what are we waiting for? Come on, let's go!" Dez says excitedly, leading the pack off out of the square in the direction of the performance space.

Dallas and Elliot followed immediately behind him, hand in hand, and Austin and Ally just behind them. However, as they were leaving the square, Austin caught a glimpse of the dealer who had threatened him a few minutes previously, glaring at him and his arm around Ally. It made him feel uneasy, almost scared, causing his arm to instantly drop from around Ally's shoulders.

This takes Ally by surprise, and she turns her head to look at him in confusion. "You okay?" She asks.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm good." He replies, looking down.

"Okay…" Ally replies, still confused and a little hurt at his sudden coldness.

Austin keeps thinking about his encounter with the man, and the threat he received to stay away from Ally. He definitely looked like a dealer, but he couldn't be certain. Was Ally a drug addict? It would definitely make sense, considering the stash she had dropped when she came into his apartment earlier. He didn't know what to make of that. Part of him wanted to protect her more because of that, and a larger part wanted to stay away from her. He started to reconsider whether asking her here had been the best idea… yes, she was beautiful and captivating and seemed to have quite a sweet personality – he definitely _wanted_ to be with her, but his head was suggesting that it would be wiser if he wasn't. Especially if it's going to put them both in danger.

And besides that, there's the one huge fact that follows Austin everywhere and haunts his life – he's got AIDs. Ally might not, and he couldn't live with himself if he ruined her life by giving her that as well. Austin never wanted Ally to be hurt again, and in his mind it just seemed that every outcome from them being together would result in exactly that.

He made his decision then and there… that he couldn't be with Ally.

He was about to turn his head and open his mouth to talk to Ally and explain everything, when Dez announced they'd arrived at the performance space. _'I guess it'll have to wait.'_ Austin thought to himself. _'In the meantime, I guess I'll just have to not speak to her. I don't want to lead her on.'_

The group made their way to the front of the crowd, right in front of the stage. There is a palpable buzz of excitement in the crowd, everyone eager to see Kira's performance. After a few minutes, Kira struts out onto the stage and begins her performance.

 ***A/N: THE FOLLOWING SECTION, DESCRIBING KIRA'S PERFORMANCE, WILL PROBABLY MAKE ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE IF YOU'VE NEVER SEEN RENT, OR AT LEAST THIS SCENE! THEREFORE, I HIGHLY SUGGEST THAT BEFORE/WHILST READING THIS SECTION, YOU WATCH A CLIP OF THIS SCENE ON YOUTUBE. IF YOU JUST TYPE IN "RENT OVER THE MOON" YOU'LL FIND PLENTY OF RESULTS. YOU DON'T HAVE TO, IT WILL JUST HELP THIS PERFORMANCE MAKE MORE SENSE. OKAY COOL. ENJOY.***

She starts speaking. "Last night I had a dream. I found myself in a desert called 'Cyberland'. It was hot. My canteen had sprung a leak and I was thirsty. Out of the abyss walked a cow - Elsie. I asked if she had anything to drink.  
She said," Kira then suddenly started singing.

" 'I'm forbidden to produce milk.

In Cyberland, we only drink Diet Coke.'

She said, 'Only thing to do is jump over the moon.

They've closed everything real down ... like barns, troughs, performance spaces ...

And replaced it all with lies and rules and virtual life.

But there is a way out ...

Only thing to do is jump over the moon  
I gotta get out of here! It's like I'm being tied  
To the hood of a yellow rental truck,

Being packed in with fertilizer and fuel oil,

Pushed over a cliff by a suicidal Mickey Mouse!

I've gotta find a way

To jump over the moon,

Only thing to do is jump over the moon!' "

Kira then started speaking again. "Then a little bulldog entered. His name (we have learned) was Jace." She pointed to Jace at this point, who was stood at the back of the crowd with a few other men, all in suits. The crowd jeered, also all turning to look at him and boo. "And although he once had principles, he abandoned them to live as a lap dog to a wealthy daughter of the revolution."

At this point, Kira began a rap section:

" 'That's bull,' he said.  
'Ever since the cat took up the fiddle, that cow's been jumpy.  
The dish and the spoon were evicted from the table - and eloped ...  
She's had trouble with that milk and the moon ever since.  
Maybe it's a female thing.  
'Cause who'd want to leave Cyberland anyway?...  
Walls ain't so bad.  
The dish and the spoon for instance.  
They were down on their luck - knocked on my doghouse door.  
I said, "Not in my backyard, utensils! Go back to China!"'"

" 'The only wait out is up!' Elsie whispered. 'A leap of faith! Still thirsty?' 'Parched.' 'Have some milk!' And I lowered myself beneath her swollen udder, and I sucked the sweetest milk I have _ever_ tasted!" Kira then proceeded to make several huge slurping sounds. " 'Climb on board!' She said, and has a harvest moon rose up over Cyberland, we reared back and sprang into a gallop, leaping, out of orbit! I awoke, singing…"

Kira then began singing the now familiar chorus once more:

"Only thing to do,  
Only thing to do is jump,  
Only thing to do is jump over the moon!  
Only thing to do is jump over the moon!  
Over the moon - over the…  
Moooooooo!"

She finished by letting out a long, low moo, impersonating a cow. She followed this by letting out another moo, and then another, before looking up and reaching her arms out to the audience. "Moo with me!" She encouraged, and it didn't take much for the entire crowd to start mooing, an uproar of noise directed at Jace, building and building to a crescendo, when Kira cut them off by waving her arms, regaining their attention. "Thank you!" Kira shouted, bowing, and the crowd let out an almighty roar, cheering and clapping for the end of Kira's performance. It had gone down a storm.

As they cheered for Kira, the crowd continued to moo at Jace, as he and his companions left the performance space, and as soon as they were gone, let out an even louder roar, cheering and hugging.

As soon as Kira stepped down from the stage, she was swamped by people running over to thank her, hug her and congratulate her on her performance. Trish battled her way to the front of that crowd and Kira kissed her passionately. "Thank you, pookie! Thank you for everything!"

As they continued to embrace, Austin, Ally, Dez, Dallas and Elliot made their way towards the back and onto the street, where they had arranged to meet up with Kira and Trish before they all went to a restaurant together. "Wow." Austin simply said as they walked.

"I know right." Dez laughs. " I don't know what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn't that!"

"I loved it!" Said Ally excitedly.

"Me too, trust Kira to make a statement like that." Dallas agreed, huddling into Elliot's side for warmth.

Seeing the two men like that, Ally glanced over at Austin for a second, wanting nothing more than to do the same and for Austin to wrap his arm around her, but as she looked at him they made eye contact for about half a second before Austin looked down at the floor.

Ally was hurt and confused… why did he keep playing with her emotions? First he rejects her when she asks him to go out to a club with her, then makes a super sweet, and seemingly heartfelt, apology and invites her out to dinner, and now he's completely ignoring her and being cold towards her again. She refuses to let herself cry, though, even though she can feel the tears pricking the backs of her eyes, as she too looks down at her feet and wraps her flimsy jacket, desperately seeking both warm from it and comfort.

Dez noticed Ally's movement, and with a single glance at Austin could easily read the guilt written across his face and he soon put together what was happening and sent Austin the harshest death glare he could. Why was his best friend so infuriating? Since he could tell Austin was being a jerk, he decided to do the chivalrous thing and took off his scarf, offering it to Ally who quickly and gratefully snatched it out of his hands with a quick "Thanks" and wrapped it around her neck.

Thankfully, just as the situation was about to officially reach the 'awkward' level, Kira and Trish walked over to the group and everyone once again congratulated Kira and gave her a hug.

"Hi, I'm Ally." Ally said, introducing herself to Kira and Trish as she hugged them.

"Do I recognise you from somewhere?" Kira asked, studying the short brunette girl in front of her.

"I dance at the Cat Scratch Club sometimes, have you ever been?" Ally asked, thinking of where most people she came across were most likely to have recognised her from.

"Yeah that's it!" Kira said happily. "I watched you dance once, you're really good!" She complimented.

"Thanks. Your performance was really great tonight, I loved it." Ally returned the compliment, and the two women smiled at each other.

"Thanks! Right, well what are we waiting for? Come on everybody, let's go eat!" She exclaims excitedly and everyone cheered, except Trish who looked down awkwardly. Kira noticed this. "What's up, babe?" She asked Trish.

"I, uh, I can't come and have dinner with you. Not yet, anyway. I might be able to come along a little later, but I need to go call my Dad first, that okay?" Trish asks timidly, knowing it might make Kira upset as they hadn't spent a whole lot of time together recently.

Kira's face fell in disappointment. "Oh… okay, just try and come along later, yeah?" She asks, holding Trish's hand.

"Of course, I promise I'll try!" Trish replies, nodding.

"Okay. See you later, pookie." Kira said resignedly, giving Trish a quick chaste kiss before turning back to the others as Trish headed off and pulled out her cell phone. "Alright, everyone ready?" She asked, instantly back to her high-energy self.

"Let's do it!" Exclaimed Dez as the group headed off.

It took them about twenty minutes to walk to their favourite small café, 'Life Café', right in the heart of bohemian, downtown Miami. As soon as they walked through the door, a waiter, who knew them and was accustomed to their ways, came straight over saying "No, no, not tonight! Please just go, we can't have a scene."

"What?" Dez asked with a chuckle, fully knowing what he meant about their tendency to not really buy much if anything.

"You sit here all night, taking up space, causing a riot, and never buy anything!" The waiter said, clearly frustrated.

"That's not true!" Dez countered. "Last time I was here I bought a coffee!"

The waiter started at him for a couple of seconds before replying simply. "You couldn't pay."

Dez's face fell. "Oh yeah."

Kira stepped forward at this point, placing her hand on the waiter's chest. "Don't worry, we're definitely buying tonight. We're celebrating." She then looked over his shoulder and saw, also sat in the restaurant, was Jace and his business partner Mr Young. "Oh God," She announced upon seeing him, turning to the others. "It's the bulldog. Never mind." She turned back to the waiter. "We'll stay." She finished, before pushing past the waiter and strutting over to a large table, the others following quickly behind her.

They all get seated at the table, and not a minute later Jace himself strolls over to their table with a glass of wine in hand. "What are you doing here? I thought you were too good for bohemia." Elliot challenged with a smirk.

Jace chuckled and raised his glass. "I'd like to propose a toast. To Kira's performance." Everyone looked slightly puzzled. "It went well."

Kira rolled her eyes and grabbed her own drink, muttering under her breath "Go to hell."

"Too bad you can't change anything." He finished with a smirk, before looking around the table, eyes resting on Ally. "Ally, it's a surprise to see you here." He said, the smirk growing bigger, and everyone turned to look at Ally with confusion. Did she know him? "What's a bright, beautiful, charming girl like you doing hanging around with these slackers?" He asks.

Ally says nothing and stares down at the table, uncomfortable. She shuffles subconsciously towards Austin, sat on her right, hoping against hope he'll wrap his arms around her and protect her. But, of course, he does nothing, in his own mind wondering what association Ally has with Jace, feeling further and further away from her by the second.

Benny chuckles and shakes his head, realising he's not going to get anything out of her, before returning to address the table as a whole, but Kira in particular. "Nice thinking with the cow and the mooing." He jests. "But just remember, you're mocking, but I'm the one trying to do some good here." Everyone scoffs at this. "What? Do you really want to live in a neighbourhood full of homelessness, robbery, and crime? Because, I hate to break it to you, that's what the 'bohemia' you all claim to love is all about. Face it. Bohemia is dead." And with one final chuckle, he walks back over to his own table and sits down.

There is silence for a couple of seconds, and Dallas mutters. "Way to kill a mood."

Kira looks up and smiles. "He's wrong." She says, shaking her head slightly. "Bohemia is so much more than that. Come on, we all know that, let's have fun!" She says and the alcohol starts flowing, the entire group laughing and joking and having a good time as they discuss what they love about the lives they live.

At one point, Ally, excuses herself and gets up to go to the bathroom, and as she's walking past Jace's table, she feels his hand on her arm and she freezes in place as he stands up, far too close to her for her liking, and starts talking in her ear. "So, your new boyfriend doesn't know about us?" He says.

"There's nothing to know." Ally denies, trying to seem strong, as she backs away from him ever so slightly.

He chuckles and shakes his head. "Ally, Ally, Ally. Don't you think we should discuss-''

She holds her hand out and stops him. "It was three months ago."

"Well, he certainly doesn't act like he's with you." Jace challenges with a smirk.

"W-we're taking it slow." Ally covers, thinking on her feet, struggling to make it through this conversation as she thinks of Austin's cold behaviour towards her and resolving she needs to talk to him about it, and fast.

She sees Jace glance over her shoulder and smirk wider, before questioning "Where is he now?"

She furrows her eyebrows in confusion, before turning and pointing at their table, saying "He's right-'' She stops upon realising Austin is nowhere to be seen.

"Mm-hmm." She hears Jace hum behind her.

"Where'd he go?" Ally wonders aloud, confused.

Jace chuckles again. "Go on, Ally. Go find lover boy." He mocks, sitting down. Ally huffs at him before quickly walking back over to the table.

"Where did Austin go?" She asked Dez.

"I don't know, he suddenly just stood up and walked out a minute ago." Dez responded, confused. "He seemed pretty pissed about something."

"Oh God…" Ally muttered under her breath, turning and walking out of the restaurant to try and find Austin.

Austin had indeed stormed out of the restaurant. He'd looked up and seen Ally talking to… _him_ , and something inside him just snapped and he couldn't take it anymore, he had to get out of there and get some fresh air. Why was Ally talking to Jace? What's going on between them? And why does it hurt so much? He knew he liked Ally, but he never got that defensive about someone having only known them for literally a few hours.

He was sat on a bench just outside the restaurant, eyes closed breathing in the cool night air, when he heard Ally's soft voice. "Did I do something wrong?"

He looks up and sees her stood just in front of him, nervously fiddling with her hair. "What?" He questions.

"Did I do something wrong?" She repeats, sitting down next to him. "I mean you invited me here but then you've just ignored me all night long." She explains.

"I've been trying!" Austin replies frustrated, but neither of them could really tell what he meant by that. "Look, Ally, nobody's perfect. I've got baggage, you know!" He exclaims, not really annoyed at Ally at this point, just at life in general, getting sudden flashbacks to finding Cassidy's suicide note and the feeling of his world crumbling around him, brought out of this when he feels Ally's soft, warm hand on his arm. He looks over at her.

"Don't you get it, Austin?" Ally asks, looking into his eyes. "Life's too short for this! I'm looking for baggage that goes with mine!" She says, and he can see some tears collecting in her eyes.

"I-I need to tell you something…" Austin says quietly, realising he needs to just tell Ally about his AIDs and get it over with.

"I've got baggage too." Ally says.

"No, I need to tell you tha-''

He's cut off by a beeping sound. Ally pulls out her phone and turns off the alarm. "AZT break." She said resignedly, pulling out a small case of pills from her pocket and putting one in her mouth.

Austin feels a strange weight come off his shoulders as he realises Ally's familiar situation. "You…" He tries to speak, but can't quite form words.

"Me." Ally replies with a hint of sadness, shrugging her shoulders a little. "You?" She asks gently, looking back at Austin and their eyes locked. He took both her hands in his and a small smile came onto his face.

"Me." He said quietly, nodding. "Ally, I-I should tell you, I'm some sort of a disaster." He says with a chuckle.

Ally smiles and shakes her head. "You're not the only one." There's silence between them for a couple of seconds, before Ally speaks up again. "Austin… I really like you." She admits, completely turning to face him.

Austin smiles. "I really like you too, Ally. I know it seems stupid to say that because we only met today, but it's the truth. And I'm sorry for being so cold towards you earlier, I was just… scared."

"It's okay, I understand." Ally replies with a smile.

"Ally, will you be my girlfriend?" Austin asks timidly.

Ally giggles. "I would love that." She replies, before leaning in and kissing him.

The kiss is amazing, for both of them. Neither of them want it to end, but it has to eventually and they lean their foreheads against each other, eyes closed and smiling.

After a few seconds they stand up, intertwine their fingers and walk back into the café. Ally is beyond thrilled to see that Jace has left by this point, and Dez, Kira, Elliot and Dallas all cheer as they see the new couple walking towards each other holding hands, and Austin and Ally smile at each other and the entire table as they retake their seats next to each other and Ally snuggles into his side, his arm instantly wrapping itself around her.

The party atmosphere amongst the group of friends continues for another hour or so, until suddenly Trish comes running in, glee written all over her face! "Guys guys guys guys!" She says excitedly as she rushes over to their table.

"What's going on, pookie?" Kira asks.

"Okay, so, Jace padlocked your building-'' She is cut off by Kira.

"That little shit!"

"BUT," Trish continues. "People started a riot! The police were called, but they don't know what to do – nobody's moving, they're all just sat there MOOING!"

Everyone cheers and celebrates at the obvious success of Kira's performance on people to give them the strength to stand up against the authorities trying to keep them repressed and as a giant middle finger at Jace and his associates.

"Come on, we need to see this!" Kira exclaims excitedly, throwing a pile of money on the table to pay for all the food and drinks they've had, and running out of the café, everyone else following quickly behind her.

The group quickly made their way to the apartment building in question, and as they round the corner their mouths drop and their breath is taken away at the sight.

The huge Christmas tree at the end of the street is up in flames, and the sound of mooing can be heard clearly.

Dez immediately grabbed his video camera out of his bag and started recording, realising this could be his way to get his filming out there if he can send this into a news channel and get noticed as a name. As he filmed the scene, Dallas, Elliot, Kira and Trish went to get closer to the action and find out exactly what was happening.

Austin and Ally, meanwhile, stayed stood at the end of the street, enjoying the warm glow coming from the burning Christmas tree.

They turned to each other and smiled, before Austin leant down and kissed her, arms wrapping around her waist as hers went around his neck.

When they broke away, they kept smiling at each other. "Merry Christmas, Ally." He said.

"Merry Christmas." She replied, before kissing him again.

. . . . .

 **Boom!**

 **That marks the end of the events on Christmas Eve, and also more importantly the end of Act 1 of the play! That means we are about halfway through the story!**

 **Austin and Ally are together, so it would be tempting to end the story like that. But where's the fun in that? There's a lot still to come in this story, the drama has only just begun people!**

 **Sorry for the long time it's been since this story was updated, but hopefully this longer chapter kind of made up for that… I'm hopeful to try and get more of this story written and posted asap!**

 **Please remember to follow, favourite and review, it really helps me when I'm writing!**

 **Catch you later! :)**


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